WesternOutlaw Posted February 16, 2009 One of my personal favorites of the Grave Stone collection, for both design and story, is the Whispering Windmill. Not exactly a traditional structure one would find in the Old West, the inspiration for this windmill came from a Picture in Lego Idea Book 6000. Not exactly sure how a European-style windmill would look built with Wild West log bricks and lots of black, I was very pleased with the final product which required very few re-builds. I particularly enjoyed writing about the creaking windmill, and later added the story of the Card Creeper, introducing the new villain to Grave Stone. I'm not sure where I came up with the name, but I remember one person referring to the Card Creeper as a name one would hear in a Scooby Doo cartoon. I had planned to revisit the Card Creeper again in a gunfight with my signature fig, the Phantom Rider. The Card Creeper was used again only to add a bit of Grave Stone to a simple MOC called the Decrepit Bank, based on the old structure in Rhyolite, Death Valley. I may choose to include him in a future creation. The Story So, the story of the Whispering Windmill: In the distance, the creaks of old wood and scraping rusty metal can be heard wining. The wind blows a mysterious howl that encircles you and chills your spine. Halloween is fast approaching and the spirits of Grave Stone haunt the night. The ghostly winds of the Whispering Windmill speak a frightful tale; a tale of death, a tale of despair. A mysterious green glow can be seen from the distance emanating from the Whispering Windmill. What twisted tale does the windmill blow? And The Dark Tale of the Whispering Windmill: Grave Stone legend says that the Card Creeper was notorious for card cheat'n in many crooked games of cards. On a dark and stormy Halloween night, after stealing hundreds of dollars from a drunken bunch of outlaws, the angry men took matters into their own hands. They dragged the Card Creeper out to the Whispering Windmill were they stopped it and tied him to one of the windmill blades. Once the blades began to turn, the men shot at the Card Creeper nicking him almost a dozen times before a final shot to the head finished him off. Before that final shot; however, the Card Creeper cursed the men swearing vengeance upon all of them for what they did to him, laughing hideously with an evil grin on his face. Bang! He was finished. But that was not the end of the Card Creeper. Someone or something heard his curse and brought back his evil soul to seek vengeance upon his killers. Some even say it was the "putrid water" that runs under the windmill. On every Halloween night, the Card Creeper awakens seeking out each of his killers. And always found on his victim's body, is a black ace of spades. The story also provides a hint of something sinister below Grave Stone, Putrid Water. This element would be re-visited again in future Grave Stone MOCs and stories. The MOC: I've included a few pictures of the interior. I wanted to add some working gears, but never got around to doing so when Grave Stone was still standing: Card Creeper Upper Level - Gears Lower Level - Pump Complete System Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zorro Posted February 16, 2009 As usual great and inspiring. They really could have made another Western theme out of this. But that's been said so many times already by now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Blackmoor Posted February 16, 2009 Great MOC, I've seen this before and it's still interesting to look at. May I use your wicks for my own creations as well? They are very clever. Oh and I love the creepy minifig in it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WesternOutlaw Posted February 16, 2009 As usual great and inspiring.They really could have made another Western theme out of this. Thanks Zorro - we may just see a WW theme in the future. May I use your wicks for my own creations as well? They are very clever. Wicks? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Blackmoor Posted February 16, 2009 Wicks? I mean the four rotating blades on the mill, wieken in Dutch. I don't speak English that well (but I try) so I put 'wieken' into babelfish.yahoo.com and it came up with 'wicks'. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Klaus-Dieter Posted February 17, 2009 (edited) That's an absolutely amazing MOC, TheBrickster! I really it! The architecture is perfect, the interior is great and the minifig is well chosen! And I really like the story! Imo it looks much, much better than your Haunted Mill - but that's perhaps only my opinion. Perhaps one or two more minifigs would be nice to add - otherwise perfect! Very, very well done! Klaus-Dieter Edited February 17, 2009 by Klaus-Dieter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WesternOutlaw Posted February 18, 2009 I mean the four rotating blades on the mill, wieken in Dutch. Gotcha. You bet you can use the design. Perhaps one or two more minifigs would be nice to add - otherwise perfect! Thanks KD, as well as your other comments about the Grave Stone Collection. Nice photo-editing does make the MOCs look better. For most of my creations, I am usually pretty scarce on the minifigs, at least for Grave Stone. The story of Grave Stone revolves around a Ghost Town where there are few inhabitants. In addition, I am a bit challenged with building good minifigs because at any given time, I only have a few boxes of Lego in the house (usually by theme). This limits my ability to mix and match parts to get a good fig. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lego12 Posted February 18, 2009 Way to go Brickster! Another great MOC! This one really inspires me to build a windmill, less spooky of course! Town regulator, huh? More like History Regulator! The fig's great! About the barrels, I just wanted to let you know, if you didn't know already, that TLC is going to release the big barrel in the new indy set and its in beige! The indy set will only be $5-$10. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eilif Posted February 18, 2009 Nice Job. Oddly, this made me quite nostalgic. One of the first LEGO sets I ever received was a "BASIC" set with a very similar windmill. Still, I like yours better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WesternOutlaw Posted February 18, 2009 About the barrels, I just wanted to let you know, if you didn't know already, that TLC is going to release the big barrel in the new indy set and its in beige! The indy set will only be $5-$10. Thanks Lego12, and also for commenting on my site. I appreciate reading the feedback about Grave Stone, both Lego MOCs and story. I saw that tan barrel. I'm not sure that I really like the color though. It is a great part, but I think I need to have it in my hand (in tan) to appreciate it. I do look forward to all the new Indy sets though, as I'm a huge fan of the Indy Theme Oddly, this made me quite nostalgic. One of the first LEGO sets I ever received was a "BASIC" set with a very similar windmill. Still, I like yours better. It's that classic town design. These types of creations are easy to build and timeless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SiRoa Posted February 20, 2009 another great idea of MOCing.. I love dark theme.. and using brown wouldn't decrease the darkness of the building.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
